122 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE,

appear as if they were never to be sullied by the tempest.
But a storm suddenly comes on; the roads are rendered
impassable by drifts of snow; the avalanches, which are huge
Joosened masses of snow or ice, are swept into the valleys,
carrying trees and crags of rock before them. Benumbed
with cold, weary in the search for a lost track, his senses
yielding to the stupifying influence of frost which betrays the
exhausted sufferer into a deep sleep, the unhappy man sinks
upon the ground, and the snow-drift covers him from human
sight. It is then that the keen scent and the exquisite
docility of these admirable dogs are called into action.
Though the perishing man lie ten or even twelve feet beneath
the snow, the delicacy of smell with which they can trace
him offers a chance of escape. They scratch away the snow
with their feet; they set up a continued hoarse and solemn
bark, which brings the monks and labourers of the convent
to their assistance. To provide for the chance that the dogs,
without human help, may succeed in discovering the unfortu-
nate traveller, one of them has a flask of spirits round his
neck, to which the fainting man may apply for support; and
another has a cloak to cover him. These wonderful exertions
are often successful; and even where they fail of restoring
him who has perished, the dogs discover the body, so that
it may be secured for the recognition of friends; and such
is the effect of the temperature, that the dead features gener-
ally preserve their firmness for the space of two years.” One
of these dogs is said to have saved as many as forty lives
and finally to have fallen a victim to an avalanche.

The Greyhound. The Greyhound is characterised by elegance
of form and grace of movement; he has also great powers
of speed and endurance, is mild and affectionate in disposition
and sagacious in matters other than those connected with
the chase. “The narrow, sharp head, the light half hanging
ears, the long neck, the arched back, the slender yet sinewy
‘imbs, the deep chest, showing the high development of the